New Delhi, June 8 (IANS). An investigation has been started after three Air India planes parked at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) were damaged. The incident occurred when due to sudden bad weather the ground support equipment slipped from its place and collided with the planes.
According to Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), the incident occurred due to heavy rain and strong winds at Terminal 2 on Sunday, due to which the ground handling equipment placed near the parked aircraft got dislocated and collided with the three narrow-body aircraft of Air India.
After the incident, all three aircraft have been removed from service as a precautionary measure. They will now be subjected to detailed inspection and repair to assess their safety and technical condition.
DIAL said the equipment that had shifted from its place belonged to Air India Engineering Services and ground handling services of IndiGo.
According to airport officials, the weather conditions had deteriorated suddenly and unexpectedly. He said that neither the airport operator nor the airlines had received any advance warning from the Air Traffic Control (ATC) about this sudden change in the weather.
However, till the time of writing this news, Air India has not made any official comment on this incident.
According to reports, one aircraft of another operator has also been affected due to bad weather. However, detailed information about this has not been revealed yet.
According to the information, out of the three affected aircraft, two are likely to return to operations soon, while the third aircraft may take longer to be repaired.
This incident has occurred at a time when there is increasing pressure on aviation operations due to sudden inclement weather, heavy rains and thunderstorms.
The weather took a sudden turn in Delhi-NCR on Sunday and there was heavy rain in many areas. The effect of rain was clearly visible in the areas around Indira Gandhi International Airport.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has once again predicted light to moderate rain, thunderstorms and strong winds with speeds up to 60 kilometers per hour on June 11 and 12. This may affect aviation and other transport services.
–IANS
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